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Marina/brokerage in Scotland/north of England?


beckyem

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Hello all,

 

I've recently put my name down for a newly developed residential mooring on the Union Canal in Edinburgh, which will hopefully be ready in a few months. So I'm currently looking to buy my first liveaboard narrowboat.

 

I just wondered if anyone could recommend any reputable brokers or marinas in the north of England, or, even better, Scotland? I haven't had much luck with Google. I'm currently looking at online adverts, but as someone on here wisely noted in another topic, there's only so much online browsing you can do, and I really want to go and see some boats in person. However, I'm on a bit of a tight budget, and can't afford numerous trips south.

 

I've seen that places like Whilton Marina and ABNB often come up as suggestions, but as I'm going to be paying to transport up to Scotland by road, it would be great if there was somewhere nearer...

 

Thanks in advance. This site has been such a great resource so far for a novice smile.png

 

Becky

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Have you spoken to Ron at Falkirk Hire Boats? I believe they have a couple of private boats on brokerage at the moment phone (zero one) 32467212

 

What's your target size / budget? There are a couple of narrowboats for sale here at Auchinstarry, but I don't know where (if anywhere!) they're advertised online.

 

Hopefully others will be along with better recommendations to see a wider range of boats!

 

I do hope you haven't put your name down for one of the vacant pontoons underneath the 'party flats' at Leamington Wharf.

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Have you spoken to Ron at Falkirk Hire Boats? I believe they have a couple of private boats on brokerage at the moment phone (zero one) 32467212

 

What's your target size / budget? There are a couple of narrowboats for sale here at Auchinstarry, but I don't know where (if anywhere!) they're advertised online.

 

Hopefully others will be along with better recommendations to see a wider range of boats!

 

I do hope you haven't put your name down for one of the vacant pontoons underneath the 'party flats' at Leamington Wharf.

Thanks for your reply! I haven't spoken to Ron, but certainly will do.

 

I've been looking at 45-57ft (probably 50ft ideally) and around 25-28k. I saw one that was moored at Auchinstarry (Skilligallee maybe?) but it was gone pretty quickly. Are there others?

 

Oh dear, party flats?! Have people had issues? I did see that two berths had become available at Leamington, and wondered if they'd be a better option, but seemingly not! No, my name is down for one further down on the other side of the canal, near the new high school.

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Scottish Canals used to have boats for sale on the web site but I don't know if they still do. A quick look drew a blank . A drive round the mooring spots might produce some boats with for sale notices on them - Edinburgh Quay, Leamington Wharf, Harrison park, Ratho, Linlithgow, Causewayend basin, Falkirk (in the basin, and on the Forth and Clyde below the Wheel and at lock 16, The kelpies, Auchenstarry and Bowling.

Good luck!

 

haggis

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Scottish Canals used to have boats for sale on the web site but I don't know if they still do. A quick look drew a blank . A drive round the mooring spots might produce some boats with for sale notices on them - Edinburgh Quay, Leamington Wharf, Harrison park, Ratho, Linlithgow, Causewayend basin, Falkirk (in the basin, and on the Forth and Clyde below the Wheel and at lock 16, The kelpies, Auchenstarry and Bowling.

Good luck!

 

haggis

 

Great advice - thank you! :)

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Thanks for your reply! I haven't spoken to Ron, but certainly will do.

 

I've been looking at 45-57ft (probably 50ft ideally) and around 25-28k. I saw one that was moored at Auchinstarry (Skilligallee maybe?) but it was gone pretty quickly. Are there others?

 

Oh dear, party flats?! Have people had issues? I did see that two berths had become available at Leamington, and wondered if they'd be a better option, but seemingly not! No, my name is down for one further down on the other side of the canal, near the new high school.

 

You only just missed Skillogalee - she's been up for sale for over a year, but I understand has now sold.

 

At your price range I suspect you'll be better off doing what you thought of in the first place & bringing something up from Down South - the ones I know of for sale here at Auchinstarry, the sellers are looking for quite a bit more than that, but do have a chat with Ron just in case!

 

Have a search on here for boat transport recommendations if you haven'y already.

 

I'd also strongly recommend using Stephen Kelvin of Forth & Clyde Marine Services at Grangemouth for the crane in as he's way cheaper than trying to do a contract lift using one of the Scottish Canals crane pads.

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Hi Becky, I was in a similar position as you last autumn. I ended up by going south to find a suitable boat and having it transported to Grangemouth and lifted in at Stevie Kelvin's. We managed to look at about 10 boats on 2 Marinas in one day. We saw a few we thought suited on paper but not in the flesh so to speak.

We found one ideal for us and wish you well.

 

Allan

Edited by AllanD
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Hi Becky, I was in a similar position as you last autumn. I ended up by going south to find a suitable boat and having it transported to Grangemouth and lifted in at Stevie Kelvin's. We managed to look at about 10 boats on 2 Marinas in one day. We saw a few we thought suited on paper but not in the flesh so to speak.

We found one ideal for us and wish you well.

 

Allan

 

That's really reassuring, thanks! Which marinas did you end up looking at? Great to hear it's possible, even if it does feel a bit like a hopeless task at the moment!

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